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Forum:What is canon?
This has been bothering me, so I thought I would get the ball rolling on a discussion (or at least a question). What is considered canon material for the Babylon 5 universe? Now, my primary experience in determining canon is with Star Trek. In Trek, only stuff from on-screen (in episodes or movies) is canon. As I understand it, it is a bit broader in Babylon 5. At the very least some novels are canon, possibly other materials as well. So, what is canon, and what is not? I suggest we create a list of what is considered canon material (i.e. names of the novels), so that new additions can be determined to be canon or not. --OuroborosCobra talk 08:00, 5 January 2007 (UTC) :See Book list. I believe there are also other canon items such as comics and JMS' usenet postings. I'll have to do a little research. --BoneGnawer 11:44, 5 January 2007 (UTC) ::I would also say that parts in the script, that didn't get into filming are canon. As long as they (like on Memory Alpha) don't interfere with onscreen scenes. ::Books and Comics... I'm not sure - what's the difference between Babylon 5 books and Star Trek books? In Memory Alpha the point is, that the books aren't written by the show-writers and thus contain things imagined by some author, wich doesn't have to be the way the show writers thought of it. ~ Trent_Easton ~ talk http://www.thrawn.pd-rpg.de/starfleet/assets/images/psi.gif :::JMS has a list of what is and isn't canon. We need to find a reliable source for that list. Some books are canon, some are not, JMS has personally clarified points of canon on usenet and other places. We need the list. --BoneGnawer 16:07, 5 January 2007 (UTC) I've been searching for a JMS list, and have had some trouble finding it. I have found a compilation of Canon stories in chronological order, as follows: * The Gathering * Season 1 * Season 2 up through "The Geometry of Shadows" * Original B5 Comics (1-8, 11) * The Rest of Season 2 * Season 3 * The Shadow Within * To Dream in the City of Sorrows * Season 4 up through "Into the Fire" * In Valen's Name (1-3) * The Next Two Episodes in Season 4 * Thirdspace * The rest of Season 4 * In the Beginning * Season 5 up through "Objects at Rest" * Amazing Stories Short Stories (1-3) * B5 Magazine Short Stories (1-3) * The River of Souls * The Legend of the Rangers: To Live and Die in Starlight * A Call to Arms * Crusade * Unproduced Crusade Scripts * Psi Corps Trilogy * Legions of Fire Trilogy * The Passing of the Technomages Trilogy * The Lost Tales: Voices in the Dark * The Lost Tales Tribute Comic * Season 5 Finale "Sleeping in Light" JMS produced material, such as USENET postings, etc. which often state or clarify canon and are considered official. The following items are officially licensed products, or well-known accurate references and can be considered valid references unless contradicted by any of the above sources: * Creating Babylon 5 * Babylon 5 Security Manual * The A to Z Guide of Babylon 5 * The Babylon File * The Babylon File (Vol 2) * The Babylon Project (game) - a roleplaying game published by Chameleon Eclectic in 1997. * The Babylon 5 Roleplaying Game published by Mongoose Publishing Other fan sites should not be considered official references. They can be secondary references, if they cite their sources. The Lurker's Guide and http://www.b5tech.com/ are excellent secondary references. ::On the DVDs, there is the Babylon 5 Timeline, which has various historical dates on it that includes the Columbia and the Challenger. Would those two ships be canon?--Farragut79 04:41, 13 January 2009 (UTC) :::In the broad sense that the show is intended to take place in "our" future, yes. But that doesn't mean we need an article for either of them, since to my knowledge neither have been featured in any episode or story. - Blind Wolf 08:00, 13 January 2009 (UTC) ::I have the G'Quan Class ship plans ordered from Amazon, is this publication worthy of being on the Wiki? Does any of the RPGs are considered canon?--Farragut79 20:26, 19 May 2009 (UTC) :::I wouldn't say so, no. At least not as primary data sources. From what I've seen it tends to be somewhat contradictory and erroneous and in fact we've recently been working to remove as much non-canon RPG data as we can find. So I think it's best to ignore it in it's entirety. If you want to have it in a wiki, then I suggest you try creating a separate B5 Wiki for RPGs, like the Trekkies have with 'Memory Beta' and the like. Blind Wolf 09:03, 20 May 2009 (UTC)